CE Marking and the regulatory landscape for doors

• After two years of transition period, EN 16034:2014 is now fully enforced. This standard regulates the fire and smoke requirements for doors and windows. Compliance with this standard is now mandatory to achieve CE Marking, but only if the relevant product standard for each kind of door is also harmonised. This is the case of external doors and windows as well as industrial, commercial, and garage doors and gates.
• The European Commission has decided to reject the harmonization of the EN 14351-2:2018 standard for Interior Doors. The proposal has been returned to the European Committee for Standardization (ECS) for its revision. In light of this development, the CE marking for this type of product will continue to be unavailable until the harmonization is approved and published on the Official Journal (OJ) of the European Union.

For this reason, Applus+ Laboratories has prepared a brief guide to recap the regulatory situation of each type of door, indicating the mandatory tests and certifications as well as the voluntary marks in each case.

The main question for each type of door is whether they have an applicable harmonized product standard. If they do, then they must be CE marked and, thus, any other related standards, like those related to fire and smoke requirements, are mandatory (once their transition period ends). However if there is no harmonised product standard or the standard is still in discussion, they cannot be CE Marked, and their compliance route is according to national regulations.

External Doors and Windows:

• Product standard EN 14351-1 (harmonised and mandatory): performance characteristics testing
• Related standards EN 16034 (harmonised and mandatory): fire & smoke characteristics testing
• CE Marking: Type 1 with Notified Body intervention (mandatory)
• Voluntary Certification: A+ Fire Safety Mark

Industrial, Commercial and Garage Doors and Gates:

• Product Standard EN 13241 (harmonised and mandatory): performance characteristics testing
• Mandatory related standards EN 16034 (harmonised and mandatory): fire & smoke characteristics testing
• CE Marking: Type 1 with Notified Body intervention (mandatory)
• Voluntary Certification: A+ Fire Safety Mark

Internal Pedestrian Doorsets:

• Product standard prEN 14351-2: not harmonised and not mandatory
• Related standards EN 16034: Not applicable
• CE Marking: Not applicable
• Voluntary Certifications: A+ Quality Mark for interior doors & A+ Fire Safety Mark

When fire and smoke tests are required, manufacturers must take into account product variations. As fire tests can only be used to CE Mark identical products, Extended Application (EXAP) of fire tests results are key to optimize the number of tests required to CE mark different product variations. To know more about this topic read our article on Extended application of fire resistance test results.

When the CE Marking is not applicable, manufacturers can rely on A+ Quality Marks to differentiate their products, highlight their quality in front of end users, and be ready when for certification becomes mandatory.

Applus+ Laboratories provides a wide range of testing and certification services to ensure product compliance. Our experts on regulation can help you identify the best route to compliance for each product type.